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Not bad, though

Hasbro's new Legacy Collection, released a couple of years ago, was a set of the major Star Wars characters from every film, all redone with high quality modeling and painting. This wave, which consisted of characters from the Empire Strikes Back. Here we have the galaxy's most feared being - the only person more deadly than Vader himself - the great and terrifying Emperor Palpatine.

Palpatine was introduced a simple Senator in the first few films, before coming into power as Chancellor, seducing Anakin into the dark side before becoming the leader of the Empire, terrorizing every star system from Dagobah to Tattooine.

The one thing about this figure which kind of gets me is that it doesn't look greatly like Emperor Palpatine as we know him, except perhaps in his cameo in the 2004 re-issue of the Empire Strikes Back. He kind of looks like a melting zombie from a pretty bad horror film. In fact, there's not much of Ian McDiarmid in this. Oh, well.

The figure is pretty jointed with head, shoulder, eblow, wrist, hip, knee and ankle articulation (although a lot of this is hidden within the many folds of his robes).

He is dressed in a long robe and hood made of pretty soft cloth (although the hood is hard plastic). Accessory wise, he comes with a red lightsaber, a walking stick, which I find pretty cool.

He also comes with a body of a protocol droid, the rest of which is found with other figures in the series. I never collected that thing though and have this empty scrap metal of a droid lying about.

All in all, it's not a bad figure. It certainly looks good, just more like a fan art version of Palpatine, and not exactly what you'd expect from the film versions.

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A curious chap is Mr Emporer Palpatine. I think it is fair to say that as the films progress, he starts to lose his good looks and by the final movie, he looks withered and ill, a walking mass of decaying flesh!

The Emporer was portrayed by Ian McDiamid onscreen and the character proved very popular. Kenner released an action figure in the eighties, though the he looked more like an old man in a dressing gown, or a monk who had lost his way! The old colour scheme had been correct, but poor sculpting had displeased enthusiasts.

Here we are now with Hasbro's version of the same character. The Emporer now looks much more like he did in the films. His face looks even more weathered and ruptured and there is some splendid scarring around his cheeks and jawline which show his regression. A deluxe cloak shrouds him from head to foot and is the centre piece of the figure. It has wonderful movement to it and outshines Vader's cloak by a longshot. Clad purely in black, the figure might look bland on the suface, but his fatigues have been crafted with a careful eye. Strong articulation on his chest shows a suit which has been exposed to some wear and tear and the legs repeat the same style.

The Emporer stands up with ease and is posebale on all of his joints which means you can mould him into different positions. With his pleasing sturdy red lightsabre you can create a battle scenario with The Emporer and Luke and re-enact key scenes from 'Return Of The Jedi.'

He also comes with a a droid accessory and his crooked staff which he needs to hobble around. The figure will set you back up to seven pounds and is another fine addition to the expansive universe.